Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Northern Trust Corporation $NTRS

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 454,038 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,323 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Northern Trust were worth $57,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NTRS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,810,816 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $178,637,000 after buying an additional 585,992 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,443,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $339,711,000 after buying an additional 558,287 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,905,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,834,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Northern Trust by 529.4% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 461,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $45,515,000 after acquiring an additional 388,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.19% of the company’s stock.

Northern Trust Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Northern Trust stock opened at $126.03 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.31. Northern Trust Corporation has a twelve month low of $81.62 and a twelve month high of $135.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $129.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 14.37%. Northern Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northern Trust Corporation will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Northern Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 256 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $126.34 per share, with a total value of $32,343.04. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,008.50. This trade represents a 11.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NTRS shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Northern Trust from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on Northern Trust from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 target price on Northern Trust in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Northern Trust in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $142.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northern Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.71.

Northern Trust Company Profile

Northern Trust Corporation, a financial holding company, provides wealth management, asset servicing, asset management, and banking solutions for corporations, institutions, families, and individuals worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Servicing and Wealth Management. The Asset Servicing segment offers asset servicing and related services, including custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, investment management, investment risk and analytical services, employee benefit services, securities lending, foreign exchange, treasury management, brokerage services, transition management services, banking, and cash management services.